There are many high molecular weight compounds, generally referred to as polysaccharides, heteropolysaccharides, gum, etc., which are extremely valuable for their rheological and other properties. Many of these have been extracted from plants for centuries and are used in un-derivatized form, others are produced by fermentation, others are chemically or otherwise treated so as to alter certain properties and make them more useful in particular applications. A difficulty with many of these compounds is that the more soluble they are in water, the more non-dispersible they are, thus requiring long and vigorous agitation in order to prepare lump-free, homogeneous sols. Many techniques have been used to prepare more-dispersible forms of useful gums while retaining their solubility. One example of such a technique is the glyoxal treatment of gum.